The present invention relates to a shelving system carrying a point of purchase display rack with an integral graphic panel metallic supporting frame and, in particular, to improved graphic panels for secure attachment to the display rack, but which can be easily removed as needed.
The prior art display rack includes graphic panels that are mounted to the graphic panel metallic supporting frame of the display rack by means of hardware, such as, metallic strips with apertures for alignment with apertures in the frame and apertures around the periphery of the graphic panels. The graphic panels are maintained in place through the use of threaded members passing through the aligned apertures of the frame, an associated graphic panel, and metallic strip and engaging corresponding wing nuts, for example, whereby the graphic panels are held firmly in position. The graphic panels are typically relatively stiff foam core panels which have a paper or other exterior material on both outer sides where a graphic message may be carried.
A point of purchase display rack such as this, often includes three “embedded” graphic panels forming a background for the point of purchase display rack. Typically, there is a central rear graphic panel and adjacent left and right side graphic panels, each positioned at an angle from the rear graphic panel. Typically, the rear panel is rectangular and the side panels are trapezoidal in shape. Of course, this depends on the display configuration. At the front of the rack an additional panel is often carried in a header portion of the frame. The rack is commonly positioned on the shelving system so that the graphic panels are readily observable to the consumer. As the consumer views the retail items contained in the point of purchase display rack, the graphic panels are situated such that the consumer will be immersed in the visual wrap-around effect of the graphic panels. The graphic panels very often carry a written message or a pictorial representation or both in some way dealing with the items carried by the rack. A rack such this may carry, for example, flooring items such as, elongated vinyl or wood moldings, flooring samples, flooring installation aids video, flooring cleaner and literature. The rack includes a number of bins for holding such flooring items.
Typically, the point of purchase display rack is maintained on a shelf of a shelving system, often referred to as an “H-frame” system such as widely seen at well known home improvement stores. Two or more horizontal shelves are often suspended between series of four vertical supports. The point of purchase display rack usually is carried on a lower shelf with shelving above which may carry other items. The three graphic panel arrangement as discussed above are typically positioned under a shelf directly above and are arranged to the rear and sides of the display rack which is attached to a lower shelf.
The display rack including the graphic panel supporting frame, is generally made of a ferromagnetic material such as steel or the like.
It has been found that with the prior art use of relatively stiff graphic panels and hardware including metallic strips, threaded members and nuts to hold the graphic panels in position, often requires a great deal of time to virtually completely empty a display rack filled with consumer goods to gain access to the graphic panels and the associated hardware when it is desired to change the graphic panels.
In addition it has been found that shipping the relatively stiff prior art graphic panels often may be quite expensive because the size of the panels. Another drawback of such a prior art use of such hardware to maintain the stiff graphic panels in place is its relative complexity.